Legal Advice on Data Security Policies

Legal Advice on Data Security Policies

Formulating robust data security policies for your business is essential for ensuring full compliance with increasingly stringent data protection regulations. JMW Solicitors can provide you with the legal advice your business needs to develop data policies that meet these requirements.

Our data management team in London has considerable expertise in the field of data security laws, and has worked with businesses from a range of sectors to create data security policies that meet their organisational needs, while remaining in full compliance with the relevant laws. We can put this experience to work for your business by helping you create a bespoke data security policy that suits your specific situation.

For expert legal advice on data security policies, give JMW a call on 0345 872 6666, or fill in our online enquiry form to arrange a call back at a time that suits you.

What Should Be Included in a Data Security Policy?

A strong data security policy should be formulated to account for as many foreseeable threats and risk factors as possible while making sure that the business is utilising data in a way that is fully compliant with all relevant national and international regulations.

The specifics will depend on the activities and requirements of the business in question, but as a general rule, a sound policy approach will cover the following:

• Data encryption - outlining the company’s methods for encoding and encrypting data so that it cannot be accessed or understood without authentication
• Acceptable use - clear rules on how data can be utilised by the business, including details on how data usage patterns will be monitored
• Data processing - a well-developed outline of how data should be sent and received within the organisation, ensuring that the location of information and its associated permissions is visible upon request
• Email and password etiquette - businesses should have clearly-defined rules on creating strong passwords and avoiding common email scams, in order to prevent the most easily foreseeable types of data breach
• Incident response plans - when a vulnerability or breach is detected, companies need to lay out an effective response plan that is known to everyone in the business
• Accountability - all members of staff should know who is responsible for upholding data security, and what their personal responsibilities are

By seeking the right legal advice, businesses can ensure their data security policies fulfil all of these basics and more, guaranteeing compliance and maximising their protection against data breaches and malicious actors. JMW has the experience and expertise to help your organisation to achieve this.

How JMW Can Help

Corporate data security policies need to be legally thorough and robust enough to ensure that the company’s activities comply with the requirements set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other relevant laws; at the same time, they need to be flexible enough to allow the business to carry out its core activities unimpeded. Failure in either direction can create significant operational setbacks for the organisation.

JMW has significant expertise in all aspects of data security governance, and can provide businesses with advice on the following matters:

• Drafting and reviewing corporate data protection and cyber security policies, procedures and internal documentation
• Advising businesses on GDPR compliance and providing updates on new legal developments
• Handling communication with regulators relating to data security policies
• Helping companies stress-test and assess the impact of their policies
• Supporting businesses in providing training for staff on newly-created data policies

Our solicitors have experience of working with businesses of all sizes from the private, public and charity sectors. We can ensure your data security policies offer robust defence against the threat of data breaches, theft and misuse, without interfering with your commercial objectives and your efforts to maximise the value of your data assets.